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Magolor shot up from his sleep in a cold sweat. It's that same dream again! His time locked away in another dimension, ending with him not being able to escape. He looked out the window to see the sunrise creeping into the small room, before groaning and collapsing back onto his bed again. Another bad week, huh.
He stared at the ceiling, trying to find some answer in the recesses of his mind for why he hasn't been able to get over himself lately. It had been a few years at this point, what’s the big deal? He chose to put on the master crown, he suffered the consequences… why on Popstar is he so paranoid? And more importantly, why didn’t he go to the store yesterday… Day 22 of running on fumes and he was finally out of coffee. Ugh.
He had to do something about it, his reading hadn’t given any more information then it did yesterday; and he was only getting more tired.
Once the sun had fully risen, and he gathered any resources that might help, Magolor set out for some kind of life altering answer to his problems. He had a near endless repository of knowledge from his archaeology trips; and yet there is no record in his library on how to rid yourself of the aftereffects of possession. He had a few books he nabbed from Floralia’s ruins, but he couldn’t figure out what language they were written in.
He had remembered Susie casually mentioning something a while ago about a special machine that was able to grant wishes, no strings attached; unfortunately, she also mentioned that Kirby had destroyed it when ‘beating up her dad’. Go figure .
He kept wandering from person to person, each of which seemed to have some form of their own two cents. Some advice was more compelling than others, but the truth is that most of Dreamland’s citizens have not been in his predicament. After an hour or so, Magolor had left. He felt more tired than before, but almost refreshed at how open Dreamland was to lending a helping hand.
As his last attempt for the day, he decided to pay Taranza a visit. If anyone in Dreamland knew how to read Ancient magic, there’s a good chance he would.
Taranza rubbed his temple as he listened to Magolor’s request. "Hmmm… While I am capable of magical abilities that involve possession, I am unable to get rid of any side effects that come along with its expulsion. I can definitely learn to, but as of right now.. you'd find better luck elsewhere Maggie." He had begun flipping through pages of the textbooks that Magolor brought along. With four hands each holding a book, Taranza examined the pages closely.
"Actually, all of this is written in early classical Floralian! How’d you get these?”
Nope. Magolor quickly looked away and shrugged. “No idea. I just found them.”
“Wow, what a find! I haven't had a need to use or read these spells since Sectonia and I had passed our magic honors course when we were spiderlings!" He tapped one of his free hands on the page, before turning to Magolor.
Bingo!!! He knows how to read them! Magolor exhaled in relief, looking back at his friend. He felt bad for putting so much pressure on him, but he knew Taranza understood this kind of desperation.
"So… how long do you think it'll take?"
Taranza frowned. "Well… I'm super rusty with archaic magic, so it might take a bit longer."
"So do I just wait? I don't mind doing that." Magolor felt a tinge of exasperation in his voice, and hoped that Taranza didn't notice.
"You could definitely do that! Although, if you’re still up for talking to townsfolk, I know that King Dedede has had his fair share of encounters. And he seems to be mostly unscathed outside of that garrish scar on his stomach." The thought of it alone sent a shiver up Taranza's spine. How on Floralia did he survive that three times?
"Do you think he might be able to help?"
"Hmmm…” Taranza paused, thinking of how to word his response. “He probably won't be able to give you some kind of cure, but I think it would definitely benefit you to talk to him. You might be surprised, he’s actually got some pretty good advice! In the meantime, he might be able to give you some tips for how to deal with your situation; it's going to take me at least a week or two to fully understand and perform this anyways."
Magolor thought about it for a moment, deciding there wasn't really anything to lose. He had an in, now it was just a test of patience. “Alright, I’ll take your word for it. Thanks Tara!” With a small amount of wind back in his sails, he floated his way to the castle grounds.
Mags looked around for a moment, trying to see if the Halberd was around. While he and Meta do get along… if he's here, he's probably here to see the King; and Magolor didn't think that a cold open in the form of asking for Dedede to be alone would help his case. After not finding the Halberd, and definitely not stalling , he found himself inside the castle's walls.
When he entered, he was immediately greeted by a waddle doo, before a few other castle workers came by to say hello. He had the paths around the castle memorized for the most part, but found himself getting sidetracked on his way to Dedede’s room. He stared at the comically large door, and took a sharp breath. Here goes nothing.
He opened the door to the throne room, and was greeted by a few waddle dees bouncing around while Dedede sat at his desk doing paperwork. The waddle dees in the room welcomed Magolor, before the King yawned and looked up.
“Woah, hey Mags! Didn’t see ya there! What can I do ya for?” the King put on his ever present smile, leaning back in his chair and twirling the pen he was holding around in his hand.
Magolor’s mind went blank. Out of all the scenarios in his head, he hadn’t exactly expected Dedede to be doing… work. With how different modern day Dreamland is compared to his research on ancient Popstar, he always assumed that more diplomatic things were dictated by vibes over actual policy; you learn something new every day!
“Sorry! Um… am I interrupting?”
Dedede looked confused, before looking down at his paperwork and back up at the magician. “Naww! It's all boring gobbledygook anyways. Formalities and whatever.” His loud voice echoed around the room as he pushed the papers to the side.
"I was wondering if you could.. uh.. help me out with something?" He was tugging at his robe’s ends, a nervous habit he had picked up while in another dimension.
Dedede looked at him in amusement, tapping his pen on his chest, "Well I'll be! Me? Ya sure about that?"
Magolor nodded quickly. "Yes, very sure!!"
"Awright now! How can I be of service?"
"Er, well.. I need your advice on something."
Dedede let out a hearty laugh, before putting most of his focus on Magolor. "Well why didn't ya say so! What kinda deep wisdom can I impart onta a scholar like you?"
"... I'd like to speak to youprivatelyplease ." Magolor felt his words collapsing on themselves, so much for Taranza's formality classes…
Dedede quietly nodded and looked up at the clock.
"Awright! Looksta be around lunchtime anyways." He loudly clapped his hands, the sound smoothed over by his giant mittens.
"Everyone out! Ya guys get an extended lunch. Be back in uhhhh….. an hour and a half?"
Magolor was confused, from what it looked like the waddle dees were just playing around, rather than working. Maybe he's a babysitter? Or... are they babysitting him? Hehehe.. He laughed to himself at the idea.
The waddle dees cheered and waved goodbye before leaving, resulting in the large room becoming abnormally quiet.
After the doors had closed, Dedede sighed, resting his elbows on his desk. "Ya look troubled, Magolor." He gestured to a chair, offering for him to sit.
"...I am, your highness."
"Dedede works! We're not always professional here." He smiled, ensuring that Magolor knew he was not subject to judgment.
"Right, sorry."
"So, what's on your mind?" the King looked intently at Magolor. He'd grown to be more fond of him as time went on, the multiple theme parks definitely helped his case. He felt a strong sense of empathy for the lil guy, he'd been through the wringer and then some.
"I'm sorry if this is a touchy subject for you, but um…." He trailed off, trying to figure out how to come out with his questions. The setup of the room made it felt more like an intense interrogation than a chat between friends, and he couldn't tell who was in the hot seat.
"You've been possessed before, right?"
Dedede closed his eyes for a moment, putting together what Magolor was asking for. "Oh, yeah!! More times than I think are normal for just one guy!" He laughed, trying to count his experiences on his hand.
"Let me think…. Dark Matter was tha first three, those were painful, then it was Taranza, then Miss Susie, although with her it was so techy it went waaay over my head when she was showing Meta and I tha blueprints she made. She described it as if she made me inta a robot? Weird stuff." He waved his hand, as if he was physically shaking the topic back into place.
"Anyways, tha next one was a piece of the Jamba Heart, ya know a lot about what that is I'm sure, getting lodged inta my chest, and then I wore some kinda mask that took me over while I was with tha Beast Pack. I'm sure there's more times, but I can't seem ta remember em right now. They all kinda blend together after a while." He shrugged.
Magolor noticed that Dedede didn't seem too attached to the words he was saying, although he stayed as expressive as ever. "That's…. a lot." He was almost lost for words, seeing how casual Dedede was made him feel squeamish over his own feelings.
"It is!" He nodded. "It was hard at first! Man, my stomach was achin for years! I used ta get so scared that my stomach would just rip open in tha middle of tha night, it feels so embarrassin ta think about now. I still get bellyaches sometimes, although now they're just more annoyin than somethin ta cry over." He subconsciously patted his stomach as he spoke.
"You would cry over the pain?"
"Not just tha pain! That's only a half of it. Dark Matter, possession in general, does stuff ta ya. Mentally I mean, I’m sure ya understand. If I hadn'ta found Meta or forced Kirby and Bandee to stay strangers, who knows where I'd be at right now! I'd be a lot less nice, that's for sure."
"Did you… um.." Magolor's voice cracked. "Did you get nightmares?"
He nodded solemnly, "Oh, yea. Constantly. I'd say I went from sleepin around 12 hours a day ta 2 at most, with naps. For a while, it's all ya think about. For me, I'd see its eye starin back at me in tha dark, or whenever I closed my eyes. I remember that after Susie, things really started ta hit a breakin point. I never really let myself deal with it all til then. Of course I would sometimes hafta deal with it, like when ya had gotten possessed by that crown? Oh man, was I a mess! Even when everythin went back ta normal I would get tha occasional nightmare, and I wasn't even tha one possessed that time! Sometimes it's just weird like that, ya know?"
Magolor looked at how the King carried himself. He was obviously telling the truth; and while it was evident that it weighed on him, his experiences didn't seem to have taken much of a toll. Was it just a matter of multiple exposures? How is it so easy for him?
"When Susie had messed with Meta and I, we both kinda had ta stop and deal with what happened. Now, our relationship wasn't on rocky ground or anythin, but it's much harder ta console someone about somethin you've never experienced before. Like with you, we can give ya support and resources, but we won't be able ta give ya what's best for your situation."
Magolor nodded, although a bit upset he definitely wasn't going to find a cure-all at Castle Dedede.
"While this wasn't either of our first times bein possessed, somethin about this one really got ta him. He was paranoid and worried all tha time. I'd wager that he was at LEAST mildly obsessed with makin sure his crew stayed safe, it was a constant checklist for him; every hour on the hour, unless he somehow fell asleep. It took a while for him ta calm down enough ta leave tha Halberd for more than a day at a time. It kinda felt like a boilin point was hit. For tha both of us." He stopped, allowing for Magolor to process what he was saying and ask more questions on his own time.
"So, how'd you deal with it?" Magolor hadn't considered that the Possession Hotspot's partner would have also had his fair share of experiences until that moment; Meta definitely didn’t show any of the marks that came with possession.
"Well, we sat down, and just kinda talked it out. I mean, I said everythin I wish someone was able ta tell me after my first possession. I didn’t really know what else ta say! In that moment, we both had found some kinda solidarity." Dedede put his hands together, a softer smile creeping onto his face. "He finally understood what I meant when I was first startin ta get caught up in my thoughts, and I was able ta help him navigate his. It helped both of us get out of tha weird hazy kinda feelin."
Magolor nodded. "Yeah, I definitely feel hazy."
He started tugging at his robe again, looking around the throne room. "When will it stop taking over my life?"
Dedede adjusted his sitting position to a more lax state. He looked down at Magolor and sighed. "Ta be honest with ya, I don't got an answer. I still get freaked out sometimes. Tha weird feelings and tha eyes never left, and I still can't stand tha dark, much ta Metty’s chagrin. I just decided that if I kept lettin these feelins take over, I'd just be possessed without a demon. And I can't have that, ya know?"
Magolor sat with that thought for a while, he kept wanting to break the silence between the two, but it felt comforting. He tossed around the King’s words in his mind, before a newfound calm feeling the size of a tidal wave washed over him.
"I think that was all I needed. Thank you, Dedede. It means a lot." Magolor got up and bowed, before yawning loudly. Man, was he tired.
"Go get some rest, Mags. Before the dees come back ta play."